Bad Understanding Can Kill
() n January 16, 2003, at 3:39pm, the Columbia space shuttle took
off from Cape Canaveral. During the launch a small piece of
foam insulation broke off the fuel tank and hit the shuttlecraft. The event was recorded on a few low-resolution video frames. They show a tiny white object hitting the shuttle and a plume of dusty material splattering outward. The shuttle made it safely into orbit and for two weeks engineers on the ground debated what to do. In the end, it was decided the risk was minimal and the shuttle could safely return to Earth. On reentry, the shuttle disintegrated, killing seven astronauts.
NASA managers had decided the shuttle was undamaged based on a series of presentations by the engineers. One image in particular analyzed the potential damage to the shuttle’s tiles from an impact. Read the slide, look at the key frames, and decide for yourself what action you would have : — taken.
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